CES MMA 38 results: Levan Makashvili taps out fellow UFC vet Sean Soriano in second

In a battle of UFC veterans, Levan Makashvili used a big takedown in the second to lead to a submission of Sean Soriano in the CES MMA 38 main event.

Makashvili (9-2-1) tapped Soriano (9-5) at the 4:05 mark of the second round with a rear-naked choke, giving him a pair of wins for CES MMA since his release from the UFC. Soriano lost for the fifth time in six fights.

CES MMA 38 took place at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I. The main card aired on AXS TV.

After trading on the feet for the first half of the first round, Makashvili went after a takedown, but Soriano defended it and stayed on his feet. Not long after, with 1:45 left in the frame, Soriano landed a massive rigt hand that dropped Makashvili to the canvas. Soriano moved in, but couldn’t finish, and the fight went back to the center – but with Soriano brimming with confidence.

In the second, when Soriano threatened on the feet, Makashvili wisely took the fight to the canvas. It didn’t take long for Soriano to get back to his feet, where teh two swung wildly before a short break when Makashvili lost his mouthpiece. On the restart, Makashvili went after a takedown again, and Soriano counted wtih a standing guillotine choke. He couldn’t hold it, and Makashvili got the takedown.

But when Soriano moved back up, Makashvili slammed him down in a hurry, then took Soriano’s back and locked in a boy triangle. He softened him with punches and had two minutes to work. Finally, Soriano didn’t have much fight left in him, and Makashvili got him to tap with 55 seconds left in the frame.

Kattar outworks Foster in co-main event

Calvin Kattar picked up his eighth straight win and continued his comeback after a nearly three-year layoff with a dominant decision win over Chris Foster in the featherweight co-main event.

Kattar (16-2) won for the second straight time after his long layoff and sent Foster (9-5) back to the loss column after an April win for Bellator.

The two traded punches right away in the first, quickly turning the fight into a boxing match. Thirty seconds in, Foster had the edge with repeated combinations. But Kattar got his hands up and then put together a big set of combos of his own. The featherweights slugged it out throughout the first, but a big takedown from Kattar late in the frame worked in his favor.

The second round was more of the same, but the fight playing out as mostly a boxing match seemed to work in Kattar’s favor. In the third, Kattar, a product of Mark DellaGrotte in Boston, picked up a big takedown with a minute to go and got to full mount to seal the deal.

Kattar took the fight with a pair of 30-27 scores and a 29-28.

Rodriguez taps out gritty Poppie in second

John Poppie showed plenty of grit, given he took his fight with Mike Rodriguez on just four days’ notice.

But with UFC submission standout Joe Lauzon in his corner, Rodriguez (5-1) tapped out Poppie (7-4) with a second-round triangle choke. The end came at the 1:32 mark of the second.

Poppie took Rodriguez down inside the first 10 seconds of the fight. When Rodriguez was quick to get back to his feet, Poppie pushed him to the cage. The two spent the next two and a half minutes trading knees and looking for position. Rodriguez finally broke off and landed a solid knee, but Poppie took him back down, quickly took his back, then locked in a rear-naked choke with ease. Rodriguez did his best to fight it off, so Poppie worked on softening Rodriguez up with punches. But when Poppie stopped going after the finish, Rodriguez spun out and got to the top. Poppie got to his feet with 30 seconds left and the two traded punches. Rodriguez got the best of the exchange and put Poppie on rubbery legs to close out the round.

Rodriguez landed a right hand immediately into the second round that put Poppie on the floor for a moment. The fight moved back to the feet, but when it hit the ground again, Rodriguez went to work on a triangle choke. It took him a few moments of work, but after landing some vicious elbows to Poppie’s head, he tightened the choke and Poppie had to tap.

CES MMA 38 results:

MAIN CARD (AXS TV)

• Levan Makashvili def. Sean Soriano via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:05
• Calvin Kattar def. Chris Foster via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Michael Rodriguez def. John Poppie via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:32
• David Garcia def. Rico DiSciullo via submission (keylock) – Round 1, 2:25
• Patrick Walsh def. Carlos Zevallos via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:49
• Kody Nordby def. Brandon Seyler via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00

PRELIMINARY CARD (Untelevised)

For more on CES MMA 38, check out the MMA Events section of the card.